MEDIA DECODER; This Time, It's Really J. Lo

By TANZINA VEGA

Published: December 12, 2011

Her last appearance in an ad campaign may have been fraught with controversy, but Jennifer Lopez is at it again. This time, instead of (not) driving a Fiat through the Bronx, Ms. Lopez is walking through a dilapidated mansion in California promoting a home sound system by Harman Kardon.

The campaign was created by Doner, the same ad agency that created the recent Fiat 500 campaign in which Ms. Lopez, who is often referred to as J. Lo, was criticized for using a body double in some scenes that were filmed in the Bronx.

Rob Strasberg, the co-chief executive and chief creative officer at Doner, confirmed that Ms. Lopez had indeed been on set for the one-day Harman shoot, which took place in October at the Merritt Mansion in Pasadena. This time, Mr. Strasberg said, computer-generated imagery was limited to the scene in which the dark and dusty living room Ms. Lopez is standing in explodes and is transformed into an airy, modern space.

The explosions begin once Ms. Lopez turns on the Harman Kardon BDS home theater system with the click of the remote control. ''You can complement a beautiful space,'' Ms. Lopez says in a voice-over ''or simply create one.''

Mr. Strasberg said the 30-second spot was meant to represent ''what a beautiful piece of hardware it is, and more importantly, we wanted to show just how much it can transform a room.''

The campaign, called ''Beautiful Sound,'' is an effort to increase awareness of the brand, said Jeff Willard, chief marketing officer of Harman International.

''We have, for years, been probably the best kept secret in audio,'' Mr. Willard said. Deciding to use Ms. Lopez in the spot, which was filmed by the director Martin Campbell, was easy, Mr. Willard said. ''She is about beauty and sound, and we are about beauty and sound,'' he said.

The campaign will have its premiere in Europe on Monday and will make its way to Asia and the United States by the beginning of next year.

This is a more complete version of the story than the one that appeared in print.